Search - I Married a Strange Person! on DVD

Oh, to see the world through Mr. Plympton's eyes.

Richard Dashnau | 09/03/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a fan of Mr. Plympton's work for a long, long time. When the animation collection films would tour through the city I reside in, it was always a pleasant surprise to view one of his shorts. He's a gifted illustrator, with an uncommon sense of humor, which just seems to coincide with mine. I leapt at the chance to buy this film, "I Married a Strange Person", as soon as I found out about it. I'm glad I did. This film's quite excessive references to sex and violence were, in my mind, spoofing various other works of animation, such as "Aeon Flux" or any number of popular Japanese "adult" Anime. The overall look of the movie is more polished than on his other full-length animated film, "The Tune" (which I also enjoyed). I held off on giving this 5 stars only because I am sure that most of the general movie-going public wouldn't go see this. But most of the movie going public is not enamored with animation. I loved it, though. If it makes me laugh, it's definitely worth my money; and I laughed quite a bit."

Extreme in every sense!

Hunter Shaw | Aspen, CO United States | 03/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was browsing through the under $10 DVD shelf at my local video store; there were the usual suspects of the shelf: troma flicks, low budget sci-fi's, and then something truely unique that cought my eye "I Married A Strange Person." I read the back of the case and decided to wing it and buy it without seeing it first.
Long story short: I absolutely loved it! Its excessive sex and violence are portrayed in a surreal and manner that draws you in. The humor is very off beat and crude, yet witty (similar to a Bukowski novel). One of the best aspects of the film is the goofy, but well written songs, with lyrics like "Would you still love me if I followed the fad, dressed like a shad, and blew your dad?," that reflect the film's tone. Another brilliant aspect of the film is the use of the greed towards "the lobe", to gain ultimate power, which is so reflective of the present day's developed nations. As much as I loved the film, I would have to make a warning: This film is very extreme in its sex and violence, and over all is not intended to please the general movie going public. I would suggest this mainly to fans of Charles Bukowski and John Waters."

I Watched a Strange Video

Bob Cronin | Belmont, MA United States | 11/06/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bill Plympton's most far-out, sexually strange, violent full-length animated feature yet. I own the unrated version, on DVD. Not for kids. Like Plympton's other outings, IMASP showcases his unique and jumpy pencil-sketch animation style. The mood, due to the unusual animation style, the abundance of silence (there is very little incidental music) and muted sound, as well as uneven pacing and surreal imagery, is unreal and almost meditative.
Several scenes are hilarious and mind bogglingly animated. It reminded me at times of The Wall, particularly when the car crashes into a wall from several different angles and perspectives, showing us the insides of the victim and his pain simultaneously. Plympton fans will love this film but will be suprised at how much darker it is than much of his other work.
The musical numbers in the film range from charming and infectious to barely audible. Even on DVD the sound quality is muffled, quiet and unclear. That's my main criticism of this release, and most of Plympton's other video releases- the sound engineering is sub-par, and does not do justice to the heartfelt and often funny music and dialogue."

Tell EVERYONE, just do it quiet.

Mr. Dj Barry | london | 10/23/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Disney, Pixar, Miyazaki, and most other popular animation houses have nothing on this. Sometimes as few as four frames a second. Often you see all the crayon marks. Often he'll skip into another style of animation all together. Plympton is the David Lynch of animation. Gory, sexy, twisted, surreal.
Plympton is a true auteur. He designs everything himself, collaborating with as few people as possible. He has a small team of colourists, with all the animation either done or overseen closely himself. The result is always surprising, eclectic and surreal. Creating something lacking from ALL the visual art's these days which is a sense of its own logic. `Where Tears Come From' is a perfect example. We all know it's not true, but which is more fun to believe? Does your average man on the street ever REALLY need to know what causes a tear? So why is it important for Bill to let us in on the facts when the version here is so much more fun.
I was first introduced to Plympton via the adapted version of one of his shorts or Plymptoons as they are dubbed. Used to advertise Nik-Nak's- a British snack. I loved it but thought it was a one off. Then one night I was trying to sleep with the TV on, and The Tune was being screened as part of Animation week on Channel 4, it woke me up, and I stayed up to watch it. Surprised to find that the original version of the Nik-Nak advert was part of The Tune, as well as a short in it's own right.
A lot of criticism towards Plympton is aimed at the fact that his storylines are thin and pointless and badly executed, but this is in itself a pointless criticism as something important has been missed. This ain't Hollywood. Linear narrative can sit perfectly well as second to invention and imagination. His style can often put people off, due to it's often jerky delivery, and rough style. But this is once again part of the charm. After all it's animation, and that makes no apologies, unlike Miyazaki and Disney who try to give you the impression your watching a version of reality with all the cutesiness turned up to eleven. Big eyes, big sighs, and big heart. Plympton's heroes are often confused, emotionally impotent characters, full of insecurity and self doubt and more relatable to for it. Always coming through at the end giving us something more important than coherent stories, a full interior journey for the characters. The end of I Married A Strange Person is all about heart and the power of love and the doubt about yourself and your relationship that is as intrinsic to marriage itself as is the courtship which preceded it.
A rough outline of the story is about a young couple, just married, when due to a freak mishap Grant develops a lobe on his neck which allows all his fantasies to come true. When a shady business man finds out he wants it for himself, putting Grant on the run, with nowhere to turn.
The thing that I love the most about Plympton's work here, and in everything I've seen. Is it has more invention and imagination that all the Star Wars trilogy and LOTR, Costing less to produce his whole film than Gollum's animation for 20 seconds, or one swipe of a rota-scoped light sabre.
Word to the folks though, this film is not for kiddiewinks, small ones anyway. Teenagers will find it funny, but it's too sexually twisted for the little ones, if I'd thought at ten years old that a girls nipple could have my eye out, I wouldn't have turned out to be the well balanced serial killer I aspire to be now.
I can see me becoming a compleatist of Bill's and would urge you to do the same and start by buying this, since it's finally available on DVD. And I'm sure that it will soon be deleted cos not enough people have heard of him and true art like this deserves to be seen and encouraged.
Buy it, even as a curiosity. I promise you wont be disappointed. And I cant wait to see what he comes up with next- the twisted freak of a man. It'd be nice to know who out there is on the same tenterhooks as me.
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